Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

One ingredient, five products: Cucumber extract in a more complicated toner

Cucumber extract is one of those ingredients that just sounds cooling and soothing and moisturizing, and it can provide all of that and more in our products. In our toners, cucumber extract behaves as an astringent, which is great for normal to oily skin, and as an emollient, which is great for all skin types.

In yesterday's post, we made some very basic toner recipes with liquid and powdered cucumber extract. Let's take a look at adding a few more ingredients to today's recipe.

As I always say, what's the goal with this toner? Here's the thing with this toner: I don't use moisturizer as I have really oily skin and I can't handle much oil on my face, so I design my toners to be moisturizers as well, which is why you're seeing all these moisturizers, humectants, and other ingredients. I spray it on my skin, then pat it off lightly so I can leave more of what I've sprayed on behind. If you were to make this as something to get all the cleansers off your skin before you moisturize, you don't need to use the cationic polymers, niacinamide, or humectants because you'll find those things in your moisturizer.

Heat the distilled water, peppermint hydrosol, calendula extract, and niacinamide to 70˚C and hold for 20 minutes. We'll want to compensate for condensation as we heated the heated phase, so measure all the ingredients and container before you heat it, and measure it when you remove it from the heat. Add enough water to get back to the original weight. Let this cool down to 45˚C. The add the cool down phase and mix well. Cool down to room temperature, then pour into a bottle for use. I like to use a spray bottle or mister so I can spray it on my face, but feel free to use any clean and unused bottle with any kind of cap.

Why am I using these ingredients? Let's take a few minutes to see what each of them brings to the mix. As I mention above, feel free to add more or leave out ingredients you don't have. (You cannot, however, leave out the preservative. But you already knew that...)

Cucumber extract (liquid): What's the point of using a liquid over a powder? The liquid is almost colourless, and it is easier to integrate as we don't have to dissolve it in a little warm water before using. (I know that it has a dark colour there, but look at the final product above. It was diluted quite a bit!)

What could you use instead? As I mentioned yesterday, just use 0.5% powdered cucumber extract in the cool down phase of the product. Increase the amount of water you're using by 4.5% to have your recipe total 100%.

What could you use instead? You could increase one of the hydrosols or extracts that offer similar properties. Chamomile would be very nice, as would green tea or chrysanthemum extract (for oily skin). Or you could use distilled water. It's up to you.

Niacinamide: This powdered vitamin has been shown to decrease transepidermal water loss, decrease sebum production, and decrease pore diameter. It may reduce damage from environmental casues and reduce skin irritation, inflammation, and redness. (I encourage you to read the linked post).

What could you use instead?Allantoin is a good choice at 0.5% in the heated water phase, or leave it out.

Panthenol: This ingredient improves hydration of our skin, reduces redness and inflammation, and improves skin's barrier repair mechanisms. (Check out the post to learn more.) I'm using it here as a humectant and as a hydrator.

What could you use instead? Any of the humectants I've listed above, like glycerin or sodium lactate at 2%. However, I really encourage you to get some panthenol as it has so many uses in our skin and hair care products.

Moisture Plex Advanced(outside link): I've used this ingredient called Moisture Plex Advanced from the Formulator Sample Shop*, which is a combination of humectants and cationic polymers to add lovely moisturizing, film forming, and conditioning to the product. (INCI: Glycerin & Water & Sodium PCA & Urea & Trehalose & Polyquaternium-51 & Sodium Hyaluronate). I liked it in the cooling spray I made recently and my mom's preferred version of my eye gel, so I thought it would be a good inclusion in a toner!

As an aside, if you want to learn more about toners, check out all those links in yesterday's post!

*Note: As I've mentioned before, I've been sent a bunch of free ingredients by the Formulator Sample Shop and I've been playing with them in my products. Any opinions expressed here are my own and I have not been compensated in any way to try the ingredients or share my opinion with you, other than the free ingredients. If I don't like something, I'll tell you. If I do like it, I'll tell you. Either way, my only affiliation with this company is that they have sent me some free things. I get no compensation if you shop with them.
Join me tomorrow for more fun formulating!

Welcome to the blog!

Meet our new mascot!

Welcome to the blog!

Thanks for stopping by Point of Interest! Pull up a chair, grab your favourite hot beverage, and hang out for a bit. Feel free to add your comments to posts of any age to share your thoughts! It's no fun writing this blog if I don't get to hear from you, my amazing readers!

Have a question that hasn't been asked before? Feel free to write to me at sjbarclay@telus.net and ask away! Please note, I encourage you to do the tour of the blog first and check the newbie section and FAQ first. Then maybe do a search? If you're asking for help with a recipe, I need the complete recipe in percentages and your exact process. I can't help without these, and I won't be able to do a back-and-forth with you to get the information.

As for comments, please find a relevant post and write your comment there. There's no point asking for help with your lotion bar on a post about conditioners as no one will see it but you. Please find something that relates by doing a search or looking at sections like hair care, newbie links, or extracts, for example, post your comments there. It'll make it easier for other people to help you if I can't find time, too. If you post something that is very clearly not related to the post in which you're asking for help, it will go unanswered by me.

I'm not allowing anonymous comments for the time being thanks to some particularly relentless spammers. I am also moderating any comments on posts over 2 weeks old.

There are no old posts! Write your comments anywhere and I will see them, although they will be moderated before posting due to the aforementioned spammers.

Unfortunately I'm not able to offer business consultations at this time as I'm simply too busy. Thank you so much for thinking of me when you need assistance with your formulations. (I may be able to offer this in the future.)

As a note, I am not affiliated with any suppliers or manufacturers of any craft supplies of any type. If I rave about something, it's because I love the ingredient, fabric, beads, etc. not because I've been paid to say something nice! I do get free things from time to time from manufacturers and suppliers, but I make them aware that I will be brutally honest about those ingredients on the blog!

My Patreon page

If you like what I'm offering here on the blog, check out my Patreon page where you can offer a small donation or create a monthly subscription to get even more stuff from the blog, like a monthly e-zine, Q&A, and duplication recipe. The money you donate to me - not the youth programs - will go to creating more content for this blog, creating new e-books and an e-zine, and - we hope - some video content in the future.

Follow SwiftCraftyMonkey on Facebook!

Join me on my Facebook page for updates, random thoughts, and links to other things I think might be interesting!

My e-books

To raise money for our youth groups, I've put together these e-books! If you want to learn more about the books or donate, click on the bolded links!Or click here for a short description of all the e-books!The new e-book is here! Formulating Facial Products! This 399 page e-book is filled with recipes for facial products, including moisturizers, sera, cleansers (oil and surfactant based), scrubs, gels, and more, as well as entries for ingredients like botanical extracts, cosmeceuticals, emulsifiers, thickeners, essential oil, and more, as well as a large appendix about our oils.

Click here to see the table of contents! If you make a $28 donation to our youth programs, we'll send you a copy of this e-book along with the preservatives, oils, butters, and surfactant charts as a thank you for your kind generosity!

Formulating & Creating Lotions! This 224 page e-book is perfect for those of you familiar with lotion making and ready to start creating your own recipes! I've included all the information I know about the HLB system, as well as my base recipes for lotions, creams, body butters, and moisturizers!

Click here to see the table of contents! If you make a $26 donation to my youth programs, I'll send you a copy of this e-book, an HLB calculator in Excel format, and the carrier oil, exotic oil, butter, and preservative comparison charts.

Lotion Making 101. This 305 page book includes everything you wanted to know about the basics of making lotions, including the chemistry of our lotions, ingredients we use, keeping your lotions safe, equipment you might need, and more recipes than I could count! For those of you who don't have the Back to Basics book, I've included all the carrier oil, exotic oil, and butter profiles.

Click here to see the table of contents. If you make a $29 donation to my youth groups, I'll send you along a copy of this e-book as a thank you. I'll also send you a copy of the carrier oil, exotic oil, butter, and preservative comparison charts!

Back to Basics: Anhydrous Products. This 122 page e-book includes over 50 recipes and explanations for making lotion bars, whipped butters, balms, oil based scrubs, bath melts, bath oils, oil based sprays, solid scrubs, and facial sera, as well as all the carrier oil, exotic oil, and butter profiles and everything I've gathered about the chemistry of our oils including fatty acids, mechanisms of rancidity, phytosterols, and polyphenols.

Click to take peek at the Table of Contents. If you make a $25 donation to the groups, I'll send you a copy by e-mail as a thank you!

Click on the links above to learn more about the books. If you already know what you want or want to make a general donation, click the button below! (I'll know which e-book you want by the amount you've donated!) Thank you so much for supporting our youth groups. You have made it possible for us to continue offering our programs and we finally got that sewing machine!

I've had to remove my cell phone number due to a number of calls from people wanting to learn how to make lotion. If you are part of the groups or want more information, please email me or call Community Services at 604 792-4267 to get connected.

Who the heck is Swift?

I'm an aspiring cosmetic scientician and DIY girl interested in pretty much any craft you can name - bookbinding, jewellery making, sewing, paper crafts, polymer clay - but my main passion is bath & body product making.
I am currently obsessed with Rock Band (bass and singing) and science books. Did you know my favourite word is "toaster" and my favourite adjective is "hirsute"?